BlackBerry CEO Says iPhone Is Passé

BlackBerry has a daunting task ahead of it as it struggles to reverse its declining fortunes in the smartphone market. But the release of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system and the first smartphone to run it have put a bit of swagger back into the company’s step. It seems that while BlackBerry has its head down, focused on executing its turnaround plan, it’s not above raising it to talk smack about its rivals.

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said that Apple’s iPhone is not the state-of-the-art smartphone it once was. In fact, it’s starting to look a little dusty.

“The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly,” Heins said. “The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old.”

The rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly.

Well, as the CEO of BlackBerry, Heins should know, right? (Argh! The irony, it burns!) To be fair, Heins did acknowledge Apple’s mobile device innovations before dismissing the iPhone as outdated. “Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices to market,” he said. “They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon. There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that.”

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